Generator driving



Dec. 26, 1922. 1,439,797. W. L. CONWELL ET AL.

GENERATOR DRIVING.

man 050.5, 1918. 2 sums-saw 1.

(fig-2 Dec. 26, 1922.

W. L. CONWELL ET AL.

GENERATOR DRIVING 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FILED DEC-5, 19H].

Al L 5] nuemtozs Q MQQL A ,H,)M. (K

-To all *uihom itmwy Patented Dec. 26, 1922.

UNITED S A ES PATENTOFEICE.

WALTER L. CONWELL, or amma, am) wnmnur i. raoirson, orimwanx,

concern: Be it known that we, WALTER L. CONWELL and WILLIAM I. THOMSON,citizens of the United States, the former aresident of Montclair, andthe latter a resident of Newark both in the count of Essex and State ofNew Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Generator Driving, of whichthe following: is a specification.

his invention relates to railway cars and with regard to the morespecific features thereof, to a method and to means'for operating caraccessories.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple and reliablemethod for insuring under adverse conditions, the proper operation ofcar accessories that are connected to the outside of the car. I

Another object is to provide practical means, automatic in action, forcompelling the effective rotation of generators of the typepropelled'from car axles, even when the driving belt is covered withice.

Another object is to provide means of the above type, which shalloperate properly and effectively regardless of the speed ordirection oflocomotion of the car. 1

Another object is to provide means of the above type, convenient in.control and unlikely to fail in operation.

Other objects will be in part obvious, in part pointed out hereinafteThe invention accordingl consists in the features of construction anoperation, combination of elements, arran ment of parts,

and steps of the method, which will be exem-' plified in theconstruction and operation hereinafter set forth, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanyin drawings, wherein is shown one or more 0 variouspossible embodiments of the several features of this invention, Fig. 1is a fragmentary sectional view of a railway car with our apparatusapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side view of our sanding apparatus on arailway car. Fig. 3 is a top view of a part of our apparatus the coverbeing removed. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along theline 44 of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along theline 55 of Fig. 3 and Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the electriccircuits. f

Similar reference characters refer to simimns'mr.

v I enxiiah'rba ba rvine. annual. and mama; a, i918.- Serial 10. must}lar parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

Referring1 now to Figs. 1, 2 and f these drawings, t ere is shown a partof a railway car 1, within a locker 2, of which is enclosed a reservoir3, preferably of funnel shape, containing sand-4. Mounted on the caraxle '5, is the driving pulle 6,.connected by a belt 7 to a generator 8,0 any desired construction, employed preferably for feeding a storagebattery 9, and for operating in parallel with said storage batteryto-maintain the electric lamps'10,or other current consuming apparatuson the railway car supplied with current. This generator 8 may beregulated 'by any dem'red method, no particular 7 method being disclosedin this application, as our invention does not reside in the regulationof the generator taken by itself.

7 The funnel 3 is preferably connected by a sand pipe-11 to a point 12adjacent to the pulley 6, and in the plane of the driving belt 7, inorder to supply sand to the driving surface of the belt whenever reuired for the purpose of preventing the belt rom slip ing idly withrespect to the generator witliout drivin it.

In igs. 3, 4 and 5 we have shown the preferred form of connectionbetween the reservoir and the conduit 11. Referring to these figures, wehave shown a fragmental view of an electric motor 26, whose drivingshaft 51 passes into a gear box 52, in which is contained powerreduction means to be described more fully below.

- From the delivery end of this power reduction means, there extends ashaft 53 leading preferably into a rectangular compartment 54.Thiscompartment is preferably provided with an opening 55 at its top,into which is secured, preferably by screw threading the lower end ofreservoir 3 conformed as a conduit 56 through which sand may ass. PProjecting preferably from the bottom of the compartment 54, and securedin threaded relation out of alignment with conduit 56, is the deliveryconduit 11 leading to the belt in the manner above described. i

Connected to the free end of shaft 53,

preferably by a sleeve 58, keyed or splined to the shaft, there is aconveyer preferably in the form of a rectangular vane 59 whose sidescome into close proximity to the lateral interior faces of compartment54. The vane 59 and the securing sleeve 58 are preferably formedintegrally. v I

Extending downwardlyfrom the top of compartment 54 and in proxlmity tothat side of conduit 56 lying toward conduit '11, there is a partition60 which extends part way into the compartment, terminating in an edge61.

The path" of the vane 59 when rotated by the motor, is indicated bydotted linesin Fig. 5, and the partition 60 1s deflected. as

shown, so as to ofier no obstruction to thefree rotation of this vane.Normally, the sand from the reservoir will flow freely down conduit 56,resting on the bottom of. compartment 54, or platform 71. It will asthepile of sand and will convey. substan-' tially all that part of the pilewhich lies in its path, from the platform to the conduit 11 to bedelivered to the'belti Part of the sand havlng angle of repose, andconsequently a quantity of sand equal to that which was removed by thevane, will move down from the reservoir through the conduit 56 to theplatform, re-

storing the original angle of repose, wherea upon the cycle is repeated.Thus, for each rotation of the vane 59 about its axis, a predeterminedquantity of sand will be conveyedby vane 59 from the platform by way ofconduit 11 to the belt, andduring sai d cycle, the angle of repose ofthe sand will be restored by the delivery of a quantity. of sand to theplatform from the reservoir equal to that which has been removed;

It is desirable to cause the vane t'o'rotate at a speed in the order ofone rotation per minute. We do this, by stepping down the speed of themotor 26 through apower reducing means producing the proper power ratio.We have shown our preferred formof power reducing means in Figs.,3 and4.

This consists preferably of a worm 63 connected to shaft 51 andvdrivinga worm wheel 64 connected to a shaft 65, which shaftisin turnmounted within a standard 66, having:

store the angle of repose will be repeated a bearing '67 for said shaft,said standard being mounted on the bottom 68 of the gear On the side ofstandard 66, opposite gear 64, there is rigidlymountedon said shaft aworm 69, which worm engages with and drives a worm wheel 70, to whichshaft 53 is preferably connected to be driven thereby.

Referring now to Fig. .6 the motor 26- is preferably provided with ashunt field 44 to secure substantial constancy of speed of the motor; I

This motor. is preferably arranged to debeen removed, the sand willagain endeavor to resume its- ;angle. of reposeg .By the well a of sand,the slipperinessj of overcome so that it may effectively transmit meagerrive its current from the generator 8, being connected for this purposeto the generator or the mainson the generatorside of the automaticswitch 45. A hand switch 46 is provided in the circuit for connectingthe motor and generator serving to out the inotor out of operation whenits action is unde- To maintain the sand in dry condition, the

funnel is preferably located in locker 2in proximity to steam heatingpipes 47.

sired. This hand switch is arranged in any The operation of the abovedescribed embodiment of this invention is substantially as follows:Assuming the car to be located in a region of inclement weather, so thatthe belt 7 is coveredwith ice, the slipping'o'f said belt withconsequent inoperativeness of the generator 8 is prevented, as'follows;When" it is desired to feed sand to the "belt, the.

switch, 46 isclosed and evenslow' speed of the generator will energizethe motor 26 sufficlently 'to rotate the conveyor vane, 59

through the mechanism hereinbefore 'described. The vane will thereuponbe set into continuousslow rotation. As the edge of the vane 59intersects the surface of repose 62, it will scoop out a definitequantity of sand,

' which is effectively conveyed thereby into. alignment with conduitll,through'which it I flows to the belt 7. The lateralfaces of com- IOQ,

partment. 54 prevents any substantial per-- 5 tion of the sand ladledout by the vane from being lost in transit; "Part of the sandha'v- Iing' been re'moved'from the pile on platform 1 '71, the-sand will. againendeavor to recover .'its angle of repose, and consequeritly a quanvtityof sand equalto that which was removed" by the vane Will'move downfrom the reser-f voir to the platform, restoring theoriginal own actiona belt will be power from thepulley'6 to the generator8. 1

of transporting a'quantity of sand from the and permitting the. force,of gravity to reperiodically, Therefore in the operation of the car,regardless of extreme weather con ditions, the belt will be periodicallysupplied vent slipping.

The motor being of; the shunt wound will operate at substantiallyconstant speed with aqu'antityof sand toefl'ectively pre-' whenconnected to the generator.. The sand will therefore besupplied to the,beltat a constant rate regardless. of the speed or di rection oflocomotion of the car. N

If manual means were relied upon to sand the. belt, it is obvious notonly that there would be dilliculty in keeping the proper quantity ofand supplied to-the belt at all times when sand is desirable, but thatthe forgetfulness of the man designated to attend to this matter wouldhave to be contended with.

If it be attempted to secure sanding of the belt by mechanical automaticmeans, oper ated from the car axle. as for instance by having the sandcome by centrifugal force through a hole in the face of the pulley, therate of supply of sand would increase greatly as the car speeds up,w1tha consequent throwing out of all of the sand within a short time. Inthis case the system may also at times be entirely inoperative, becausethe hole may be plugged up and no sand escape.

It is to be understood that although we have shown an electricalarrangement of a specific kind for operating the sand conveying means,other mechanical or electrical arrangements may b employed to advantage,but it is to be understood that there are special benefits in the use ofthe specific arrangement shown and described.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described a method andapparatus for carry ing out the method, in which the several features ofthis invention are embodied, which method and apparatus in their actionattain the various objects of the invention and are well suited to meetthe requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction. and manyapparently widely diii'erent embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination a driving belt, a source of sand or the like, and meansactuated as a result of the locomotion of the car. for periodicallysupplying a quantity of said sand to said belt.

2. In apparatus of the character described, in combination a car axle, adriving belt connected thereto, a source of sand or the like, a motorderiving its energy as a result of the rotation of said car axle, andmeans controlled by said motor for causing sand to be supplied from saidsource to said belt. to

prevent substantial slipping thereof in use.

8. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a car axle,a driving belt connected thereto, a source of sand or the like, a motorderiving its energy'as a result of the rotation of said car axle, andmeans controlled by said motor for causing a quantity of sand to besupplied at intervals from said source to said belt, to preventsubstantial slipping thereof.

.4. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a car axle,a belt driven therefrom, an electric generator driven by said belt, asource of sand, an electric motor deriving current from said generator,and means controlled by said motor for causing a quantity of sand to besupplied periodically from said source to said belt, to preventsubstantial slipping thereof.

5. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a car aXle-,a belt driven therefrom, an electric generator driven by said belt, anautomatic switch for making and breaking the external circuit of saidgenerator, a source of sand, an electric motor connected to saidgenerator on the side of said automatic switch distant therefrom, andmeans controlled by said motor for causing a quantity of sand to besupplied at intervals from said source to said belt to preventsubstantial slipping thereof.

(S. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a driving belt, a source of sand or the like, and means forsupplying said sand to said belt during locomotion of said car, at asubstantially uniform rate, regardless of the speed of said car.

7. In a belt. sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a driving belt, a source of sand or the like, and meansactuated as a result of the locomotion of the car, for supplying saidsand to said belt at a substantially uniform rate during saidlocomotion, regardless of the speed or direction of motion of said car.

8. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a driving belt, a source of sand, a substantially constantspeed motor, means for causing said motor to control the rate of supplyof said sand to said belt, and means for causing said motor to operateat its said substantially constant speed when the car is in locomotion.

9. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a driving belt. a source of sand, a shunt wound electricmotor, means for causing said motor to control the rate of supply ofsaid sand to the driving surface of said belt, and a current generatorenergized by the locomotion of said car, for supplying said motor withpower.

10. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a car axle, a lighting generator, a belt connecting saidgenerator to be driven from. said axle, a. reservoir adapted to supplysand to the driving surface of said belt, and a substantially constantspeed shunt wound electric motor deriving current from said generatorfor circuit or said generator, a source of controlling the rate ofsupply of said sand to said belt.

11. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination a car axle, a lighting generator, means for maintainingsubstantially constant for varying speeds a function of the output' ofsaid generator, a belt connecting said generator to be driven from saidaxle, a reservoir adapted to supply sand to the driving surface of saidbelt, and an electric motor deriving current from said generator, saidmotor being of the type that runs at substantial constant speed whensupplied by said generator, said motor controlling the rate of supply ofsaid sand to said belt.

12. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a car axle, a generator, a storage battery adapted tobecharged thereby, an automatic switch between said generator and saidbattery, an electric motor connected to said generator on the side ofsaid switch remote from said battery, and a sand reservoir, connected tosaid belt, said motor controlling the supply of sand to said belt. 4 4

13. In a belt sanding device for railway cars and the like, incombination, a driving belt, a source of sand connected to the drivingsurface of said belt, means for causing a periodic supply of sand tosaid belt, and means for converting mechanical energy of the moving carto electrical energy and back to mechanical energy to operate said firstmeans at a substantially uniform rate regardless of the speed of saidcar.

14. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a car axle,a belt driven therefrom, an electric generator driven by said belt, anautomatic switch for making and breaking the external meager sand,ashunt woun'd electricunotor connected to'said generator on the side ofsaid automatic switch adjacent thereto, and a vane adapted to beoperated by said motor, to alternately remove a quantity ..ot' sand fromsaid source, and feed it to said belt .to prevent substantial slippingthereof.

15. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a railwaycar, steam pipes therein, a driving belt con: nected to an axle of saidcar, a sand reservoir within said car and adjacent said steam pipes, aconduit connecting said reservoir to said belt, and means originallyderiving energy from the movement of the car adapted to feed sandthrough said conduit to the belt. 1

16. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a railwaycar, a

source of current, a driving belt connected to an axle of said car, asand reservoir conveyor operated by energy derived from said source ofcurrent to transport sand for said belt and a hand operated switchadapted to connect or disconnect said conveyor and said source ofcurrent.

17. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a railwaycar, a generator, a driving belt therefor, connected to an axle of saidcar, a sand reservoir, a conveyor for transporting sand for said belt,an electric motor deriving current said generator, and connected tocontinuously operate said conveyor, and a hand operated switch,accessible from said car, for

making and breaking the circuit connecting said generator and saidmotor.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specificationthis 3rd day of December 1918.

WALTER L. CONWELIJ. WILLIAM I. 'IIIQMSON.

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